Girls should be supported to:

Connect with Role Models: Engage with female tech professionals, helping girls see successful women working in Welsh digital careers.

Champion Welsh Girls in Tech: Celebrate achievements of girls in Eisteddfod STEM competitions, First Lego League Wales (EESW STEM Cymru), or National Coding Week Wales, to showcase girls excelling in tech locally.

Join Girls-Only Spaces: Take part in girls-only hackathons, coding camps and STEM sessions hosted by WISE Wales, or STEM Cymru, which create safe and inclusive spaces to explore technology.

Develop Digital Skills on Hwb: Use Hwb’s digital learning resources, particularly the Digital Competence Framework, to build tech skills in school and at home.

Peer Mentorship Networks: Set up girl-to-girl peer mentoring schemes, supported by Careers Wales, so older girls can encourage younger pupils to stay involved in tech subjects.

Challenge Stereotypes at Home and in Society: By using inclusive language, challenging outdated gender norms in play and activities, and fostering open conversations about bias and ambition.

Support Home-Based Tech Exploration: Use Hwb resources, BBC Bitesize, and local library coding kits to help girls engage with technology at home.

Celebrate Local Female Role Models: Highlight stories of local Welsh women working in tech.

Encourage Community STEM Activities: Encourage local community centres, libraries, Family Information Services, and youth hubs to run tech workshops for girls, and ensure community groups champion gender inclusion in STEM.

Challenge Gendered Career Messages at Home: Use Careers Wales resources to open conversations about tech careers, helping girls and families understand the vast opportunities in Wales and beyond.

Engage with Schools: Work with parent forums, PTAs, and school governors to advocate for gender-equitable teaching practices and extracurricular tech opportunities for girls.

Parent Awareness Campaigns: Access Hwb-hosted digital literacy guides for parents, explaining the importance of digital skills for future careers in Wales’ evolving economy.

Challenge Peer Pressure and Social Norms: Work with schools, local councils, and third-sector organisations to deliver confidence-building workshops for girls navigating social pressures around STEM subjects.

Science Capital Teaching Approach: Adopt the Science Capital Teaching Approach to promote digital technology careers to girls. This approach connects science and technology concepts to students' everyday experiences, interests, and aspirations, making these subjects more relatable and inclusive.

Embed Gender Equity in the Curriculum for Wales: Use the Curriculum for Wales focus on creativity and innovation to deliver inclusive STEM projects, ensuring girls see tech as a space for them.

Training for Bias Awareness: Work with regional consortia (like EAS, GwE, ERW, and CSC) to deliver unconscious bias training for teachers, helping them spot and challenge gender bias in technology teaching.

Role Model Visits and Mentoring: Partner with organisations such as EESW STEM Cymru, Her Place, RoModels, See Science and STEM Ambassadors together with local tech employers to bring female digital professionals into classrooms to talk about their work.

Use Gender-Inclusive Resources and Examples: Ensure Welsh language and English-medium teaching materials reflect gender diversity and highlight Welsh female role models in technology.

Raise Awareness of Tech Careers: Use the Careers Wales Primary resources to embed early career awareness, ensuring girls see the wide variety of technical and non-technical careers in digital technology available across Wales and beyond.

Whole-School Gender-Inclusive Approach: Embed a whole-school culture of gender inclusion, ensuring tech isn’t seen as a ‘boys’ subject’ and girls see themselves reflected in all aspects of school life.

Create Inclusive Tech Spaces in Schools: Establish girls-only coding clubs, but also focus on mixed-gender tech projects where girls take leadership roles, promoting gender equity in all STEM activities.

Zero-Tolerance Policies on Harassment: Work with Estyn and Welsh Government to ensure every school has a robust, enforced policy on sexual harassment, with staff trained to intervene and support girls in male-dominated spaces.

Welsh Context in Teaching Materials: Use examples of Welsh women innovators, tech start-ups, and tech-for-good projects in Wales, so girls see digital careers rooted in their own communities.

Flexible Extracurricular Scheduling: Schedule tech clubs and STEM competitions at times accessible to girls balancing academic, family, and cultural commitments.

Create Wales-Wide School Partnerships: Through Careers Wales , EESW STEM Cymru, Her Place, See Science and STEM Ambassadors, create a national programme linking Welsh tech companies with secondary schools, ensuring strong outreach to girls.

Sponsor Girls-Only Initiatives: Fund girls-only coding clubs, Welsh hackathons, and digital challenges in collaboration with Techniquest, Big Ideas Wales and EESW STEM Cymru.

Support Teacher CPD: Partner with regional schools to offer teacher placements in tech companies, so educators better understand career opportunities for girls in Wales’ digital economy.

Highlight Local Female Talent: Promote stories of women in tech in Wales, ensuring girls see relatable role models.

Offer Work Experience Opportunities: Connect with local schools to offer visits, work experience, role shadowing, and mentoring opportunities. Opportunities could be offered virtually for Wales’ more rural schools.

Embed Gender Equality into Digital Strategy for Wales: Ensure the Welsh Government Digital Strategy has a gender equality strand, with clear targets for increasing girls’ participation in digital skills pathways.

Statutory Gender-Inclusive Careers Guidance: Mandate that Careers Wales and CWRE frameworks include gender-equal representation of digital careers, ensuring digital opportunities are actively promoted to girls.

Expand Digital Equity Initiatives: Scale up Digital Communities Wales, focusing on targeted support for girls in deprived or rural areas, ensuring access to devices, internet, and mentors.

Data Monitoring and Accountability: Require schools and local authorities to track girls’ participation rates in STEM subjects and digital extra-curricular activities, using Estyn inspections to monitor progress.

Strengthen School-Industry Links: Develop a national framework for school-industry partnerships under the Welsh STEM strategy, ensuring tech employers commit to long-term engagement with secondary schools.

Support Inclusive Digital Apprenticeships: Ensure digital apprenticeships promoted by Welsh Government (through Apprenticeships Wales) actively recruit girls, with mentoring support built in.

Tackle Sexual Harassment in Schools: Implement recommendations from Estyn’s 2021 report on peer-on-peer sexual harassment, including mandatory sexual harassment prevention training for all school staff.